Leftovers: Pizza Wars, Oreo Peanut Butter, and More!

Matthew Yglesias' takedown of TripAdvisor's utterly absurd America's Top Ten Cities For Pizza is absolutely spot-on in pointing out the flaws in the methodology that led to them naming San Diego as the best pizza city in the country because one of their users mentioned that "The pizza was just as good as being home in New York." Er... if the pizza is "just as good as" New York, then doesn't that make New York the benchmark? As Matt says, "All Tripadvisor is telling us here is that Tripadvisor ratings aren't something we should take very seriously." —Kenji Lopez-Alt, Chief Creative Officer

I'm utterly taken with this NPR story, which introduced me to the existence of "auto-brewery syndrome." Meaning, quite literally, that a (lucky? unlucky?) gentleman caught a bad case of brewer's yeast infection in his stomach and literally manufactured beer INSIDE HIMSELF. And they claim it wasn't even on purpose... —Niki Achitoff-Gray, Associate Editor

I'm trying to wrap my head around the announcement on Eater Chicago that Rick Bayless is opening a new restaurant in Wicker Park. While any project from Bayless is exciting, this one is also located near three other trendy Mexican places that are also great (Antique Taco, Big Star, and Takito). Can't wait to see how it turns out. —Nick Kindelsperger, Chicago Editor

This type of soft-lit grocery store hack normally strikes me as not-actually-tasty Pinterestbaiting, but there's something so intensely alluring about a jar of Oreo peanut butter (yes, you put the Oreos in the peanut butter and blend them all up) that I can't stop clicking back.—Max Falkowitz, NY Editor

I love checking out old restaurant menus—the illustrations, the typefaces, the dishes, the prices. Here are a few that were recently shared by Inside Scoop SF, and some more from The San Francisco Public Library, shared by Mission Local.—Maggie Hoffman, Drinks and Senior Editor

"Here's a superbly-kept secret: All those dates on food products—sell by, use by, best before—almost none of those dates indicate the safety of food, and generally speaking, they're not regulated in the way many people believe." I always look at sell-by dates when I buy food, but I didn't know how ineffective they were until I read this report by the National Defense Council. It lists lists what's wrong with our current date labeling system and gives suggestions on how to improve it. [Via Mother Jones] —Robyn Lee, Art Director

Beloved Lower East Side appetizing shop Russ & Daughters is (finally) opening a cafe! Now I don't have to eat my mountain of lox while perched awkwardly on the tiny bench outside. —Jamie Feldmar, Managing Editor